Ryan stood behind her, slipping his fingers through the gaps in her golden hair and gently running them through it.
"From now on, you just need to stay in bed and focus on hatching it in peace."
"Hatching?" Celia looked confused. "How am I supposed to hatch it, Lord Ryan?"
She didn't pay much attention to the man touching her head. After all, they had already done far more intimate things. Being petted on the head like this now felt familiar, something she had grown used to.
"As an elf, how did you even grow up without knowing such basic common sense?"
"Well... Mom never told me about this..."
She really didn't know...
If she admitted that she couldn't even figure out whether she was born viviparously or from an egg, she wondered what the other person would think.
"Hatching doesn't require you to do anything special. Just hold this egg properly, and your body will naturally channel magic into it."
"Now I understand..."
"Understanding isn't enough. Turn around so I can check if your holding posture is correct."
Following Ryan's request, Celia turned over while clutching the egg.
The man's broad, sturdy frame came into her sight in an instant.
Compared to him, Celia was clearly much smaller—her shoulders were narrow, and her entire figure was tiny, exuding a delicate charm that made people want to protect her.
The way she buried her head while holding the egg was like a small female cat curling up beside a male lion, guarding her cub.
"Hmm, not bad. This posture is just right. You silly woman actually have a knack for being a mother."
Ryan let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm not silly... Lord Ryan, could you not say that about me?"
Celia's cheeks flushed as she argued in a soft voice. Her fingertips gently glided over the eggshell. Being called a "woman" felt really strange to her...
"You don't even know how to hatch an egg—if you're not silly, who is?"
"Whimper..." Celia was left speechless.
She was obviously a guy, so how would she know how to hatch an egg?
And she had already said it—her mother had never taught her anything about this when she was little.
Besides, having children was such an obscure topic. For their entire clan, it was already a big deal if a new child was born within fifty years. How could a young boy who was just over twenty years old possibly know about this...
"Alright, since you're awake, just stay here and behave. Remember not to get out of bed—you just need to know how to hatch the egg."
With that said, Ryan propped himself up on the mattress and sat up, causing the bedboard to let out a creaking sound.
The warmth in front of her disappeared. Celia lowered her eyes and buried her head a little deeper into the eggshell.
When she caught a glimpse of the man turning around to leave, Celia suddenly remembered that she still had a favor to ask him.
Earlier, when she was facing him, she had wanted to speak up directly, but she had never mustered up the courage.
Her lips moved slightly. After making up her mind, Celia tried to speak: "Lord Ryan."
"What else? After just one night, you can't bear to be apart from me already?"
"That's not it..." Celia's cheeks grew warm. "Actually... it's just that I want to go home for a while now. I want to show them the egg we had."
"No." Ryan frowned and refused firmly.
"You can't go anywhere until the egg hatches."
Celia shrank back a little, instantly losing her confidence. She tried to argue in a quiet voice: "Why not..."
"Why? Could it be that..."
"Do you actually want to carry this egg around with you everywhere?"
"To be honest, I've grown attached to this child. What if you drop it and it breaks?"
"Is this how you take responsibility as a mother?"
She was being criticized again...
Tears welled up in her eyes. She instinctively hugged the egg tighter and then loosened her hold a little, pressing it closer to her chest.
"I... I'll definitely be careful... I just need to go back once, okay..."
"How can you be sure you'll be careful? Just based on your empty promise?"
Then, the man's deep, crimson eyes suddenly turned cold. He looked at her suspiciously and said: "Celia, could it be that you don't want to stay with me anymore?"
"Now that we've had a child, you don't want to be my wife anymore?"
"That's not... " She quickly tried to argue, but was cut off.
"Fine then—leave the egg here and go by yourself. If you break our contract, let your clan leader suffer the backlash. It has nothing to do with me anyway."
As he spoke, Ryan reached out as if he was going to snatch the egg away.
"Waah... No... It's not like that... Really not..."
Celia closed her eyes tightly, clutching the egg tightly to her chest. The grievance in her heart surged up again, and she couldn't hold back her sobs.
"Oh? If that's not the case, then forget it."
Ryan's cold tone suddenly softened. His previous fierce demeanor seemed like he had just put on an act.
But Celia wasn't that easy to comfort. She kept crying, her blurry gaze fixed on the eggshell—the place where their baby was growing.
As expected.
This man...
He only showed that gentle side of himself at specific times.
At other times, he was quite fierce and unpredictable.
Ryan paused for a moment, then sat down silently on the edge of the bed. He raised his hand to brush his hair back, then glanced back at Celia.
"Stay here today. Tomorrow, we'll go together. Once we go, we won't come back—so you don't have to run back and forth."
"Now, are you satisfied?"
Celia, who had been secretly blaming Ryan just now, felt her tear-filled eyes light up when she heard this.
She was satisfied.
She could hardly believe it. She sniffled and asked: "Is it true..."
"You're already this old, yet you still can't bear to leave your parents. I'm even embarrassed for you."
"I'll have breakfast prepared for you right away."
"I said we'll leave tomorrow. I'll have your clan leader build another house nearby."
"Besides, I'm not used to living in this shabby place anyway."
"Thank you... Husband... Waaah..." Celia's mood instantly lifted.
"What?" Ryan looked surprised.
As someone who was originally male, this title was hard to say. But if calling him that could make Ryan treat her well all the time, it was nothing.